“Do you want me to?” I teased back. “Because just a few moments ago, you didn’t seem to know how to swim.”
“I know how to swim, it’s just fucking freezing in this water, and I was trying to make sure you weren’t drowning.”
“But I wasn’t drowning, and now I’m the one holding you up.”
She swallowed. “Yeah, but neither of us is drowning now.”
“Then go ahead and get out.”
“You have to let go first,” she said, narrowing her eyes at me. I wasn’t holding onto her that tightly, so if she really wanted to get out of my grasp, she couldn’t. She wasn’t even pushing away. She was leaning closer.
I should let go. But I didn’t want to. I hadn’t seen this soft side of her in weeks. I missed it.
“Or maybe you just don’t want to let me go?” she asked, a smug smile on her face. “Maybe you’re the one having issues.”
I moved my hands, grabbed her hips, and pulled her tighter to me. Suddenly, her eyes widened as she was pressed right against my cock. I watched her throat bob as she glanced down. Our bodies were pressed together so she couldn’t see, but she could tell what was going on underneath.
“You tell me, Ella? Do I have an issue?”
Her head snapped back up, and she had a blush rolling over her face. Her lips fell open, and she didn’t seem to know what to say. She was caught off guard. It was a good look on her.
I lowered my hands, placing them on her ass. I moved her more slowly, rubbing her up and down against me. The friction was small, hardly a movement, but I saw the way her eyes flickered and her breath hitched.
I looked down at her lips that were a little blue, suddenly wanting to taste them. I wanted to know what her moans sounded like, what her body did when she was aching for something.
I wanted to know her body and memorize it like a map. I wanted to know where to mark the spots she liked and what to avoid. I wanted to know how flexible she was and just how much she could take.
Did she like it to be slow, or did she like it fast? What did her face look like when she was coming apart? What would she smell like after we did it, covered in sweat? Did she like rounds, or was she a one-and-done kind of gal? Just how far could I push her?
“Still want to leave?” I asked, watching the fluster cross her face. I could feel her fingers tighten on my shoulder, her hips moving with my hands. She wasn’t pushing away as I expected. She seemed interested.
I leaned closer, her breath brushing against my skin. I stared at her lip. Her lower lip pressed out a little more than her upper lip.
And the sound of footsteps made us both tense up. I looked down the pathway, and you could hear that people were out. Probably someone going for a walk or a hiker. Either way, we weren’t alone anymore.
When I pulled my eyes back to her, I could tell the moment was over. That relaxed expression she had been wearing was gone, and she was on alert. She pushed against me. “I should go and let you finish this.”
I let go, watching her hurry to the edge of the water. I took a deep breath, trying to get my cock to cool. She pulled herself out of the water, water dripping off of her and her clothes clinging to her tightly.
I could see the exact shape of her body. She practically looked naked with the outfit she was wearing and was soaking wet. My dick ached at the sight of her.
She grabbed her jacket, threw it on, and slipped into her shoes. She was still shivering, and I could see that her lips were a little blue from how cold she was.
“Gabriella,” I said her name softly, wanting to tell her to go warm up.
“I’m sorry for interrupting you,” she said quickly as she turned, hurrying away. She was running, and I didn’t even know what to say. What could I say?
Just a second ago, I was so close to losing my cool and doing things I shouldn’t have. I wanted to tug her pants off and slide my hand underneath. I wanted to feel how hot and wet she was, and watch her body react to what I could do.
All things I shouldn’t be thinking about. I couldn’t let my sexual thoughts get in the way of my work. We were trying to save the entire pack, and I was sitting in this water trying to get into her pants.
I got out of the water and pulled on my clothes. I drove home, not sure what I was going to say to her. But I knew we needed to talk. We couldn’t be more awkward than we already were.
I headed inside, not seeing her car parked in front of the house. The house was quiet, which told me she wasn’t home. I frowned, wondering where she would have even gone. I figured she’d gone home at least to change. She was shivering, so she obviously would go home to change and warm up.
I waited a few minutes, thinking she must be on her way, but after fifteen minutes had rolled by, I knew she wasn’t coming home. And it pissed me off. She was avoiding me again, which was fine, but to avoid me when she was wearing sopping-wet clothes in the middle of winter was an entirely different issue.
I sat down on the couch, gripping the sides, frustrated. We couldn’t keep doing this. Knowing each other but acting like strangers. It wasn’t working, and it wasn’t healthy.
